Founded in 1984, the Tucson Weekly has become an iconoclastic institution in this sprawling desert boom town with a population approaching 1 million. With its reputation for diverse, compelling journalism with an edge, the paper has built a readership of...

"It was my experience in high school that all the metalheads were pretty nice guys," says Scot McFadyen. He thinks for most metal fans a genuine awareness, respect and compassion for people "overrides wanting to appear badass."

When a band decides to experiment with its sound, that experimentation can either further its career or completely backfire. The latter is the case for Sweden's The Haunted and their sixth release, Versus.

French-born Marianne Dissard left her longtime home of Tucson last year, but not before recording her third proper album, one that pairs ambitious musical leaps with greater emotional vulnerability. Variety has characterized Dissard's musical path, from 2008's L'Entredeux (written with and produced by Calexico's Joey Burns), which found Dissard channeling Americana through her French chanson tradition, to the bright and theatrical L'Abandon (2011) to two loose, off-the cuff recordings, made in Berlin and Paris with her small touring ensembles...